It’s been estimated that a year in a dog’s life is the equivalent of seven in a human’s. Using that ratio, a good retriever, hound or bird dog eight years old is in “upper middle age” and by ten his working career is pretty much over, at least in the opinion of some hunters. Others, though, realize that old hunting dogs, like human senior citizens, have a lot of offer. They can often make up in experience and wiles what they may have lost in physical prowess.

One of the best dogs I ever owned was Trapper, a Brittany Spaniel who came to live at my house when I was a grown man and had developed questionable habits like quail hunting. Trapper was out of big-time field trial stock and conducted himself like he knew it. He would range wide for a Brittany but had an innate ability to throttle down in thick cover and handle tight-sitting birds with the stealth of a pickpocket.

Trapper and I had a lot of adventures but the inevitable happened – he got older. When he was about 13, I took him to the veterinarian for a check-up and, after listening to his chest with a stethoscope for several minutes, the doctor asked, “Did you say Trapper is still hunting?”

I explained that he and I were both a little slower than in years past but, yes we were both out and about whenever the opportunity presented itself. The doctor answered that Trapper had a level 5 heart murmur, indicating advanced cardiac disease. He said that at some point Trapper would probably be running and just fall over dead. I said I thought that might be the ideal way to go and would hope as much for myself.

Trapper and I kept hunting but he had lost his hearing and had to wear a “beeper collar” so I could find him if anything happened to him in the field. He would not let the other dogs and me leave the house without him so we developed a routine. I would carry a couple of pen-raised quail with us in a little box and after the other, younger dogs had done their thing, I would set those birds out in some easy-to-handle cover. Then I would turn Trapper out and let him “go hunting.” He couldn’t hear a canon go off next to him and was slow-going with his arthritic hips but his nose was still strong and, without fail, he would make his way upwind to the birds and freeze in a statuesque point when he found one. I would shoot the birds down for him, he would hobble over to retrieve them, and then he was ready to get back in the truck and go home.

Page 2 of 3 - Trapper got to the point that, when he exerted himself a little, he would fall over – faint. He would lie there for a few moments then get up, dust himself off, and go on about is business. My regular hunting buddies were used to it and knew the routine. One day, though, we took a new guy with us. At the end of the hunt, we planted Trapper’s birds and let him out. He ran a few yards and fell over. The new guy, who didn’t know about his heart condition, started gasping. “Your dog, your dog - he’s fallen out, he’s dead!”

I knew I shouldn’t but I couldn’t help myself. I looked up and started “praying” in a loud voice. “Lord, Ol’ Trapper has been a good dog, he’s been a faithful companion, please Lord don’t let him die.” All the time I was watching the dog out of the corner of my eye.

As if on cue, Trapper stood up, shook himself a little and went on about his business. The look on that new fellow’s face was priceless. He was convinced I had prayed the dog back to life.

Trapper eventually fell over one time too many, and didn’t get back up. But, the times we had together till then were some of the best of my life and his too.

Hunting with a geriatric gun dog can have its rewards but it may require some adjustment in philosophy as well as techniques. Many hunters thrive on the fact that they can “go from sun to sun” and never miss a step. Those hunters expect the same thing from their dogs. There comes a time, though, when they should realize their four-legged partner can’t go at that pace all day and it’s not only ineffective but inhumane to push them to try.

When that time comes, a simple solution may be to make more half-day hunts or use several dogs, letting the old timer take his place in a rotation during the day. The chances are good the hunter will bag as many birds as ever and may even enjoy the excuse to slow down a bit himself.

Other adjustments may be as easy as the hunter hollering a little more often or waving his hat to keep an old dog with failing eyesight from becoming disoriented. Or he may be a little selective in the type of terrain he puts the old guy down in, saving the thick brush or big water for the younger pups. Knowledgeable hunters will sometimes let a young bird dog “run big” and locate a covey of quail. They will then release an older, experienced dog to hunt the singles. Or they might hunt elderly retrievers in field edges or other places that are less challenging than big open water or swamps where logs and other obstacles make it hard to maneuver.

Page 3 of 3 - Regardless of the level of involvement that a hunter is able to maintain for an old gun dog, he would be doing his buddy – and himself – a disservice by putting the old guy on the shelf while he can still contribute to the hunt. The days Trapper and I spent in the field in his golden years were some of the most enjoyable I can remember. Before we were reduced to “setting up” hunts for him, he and I would explore small plots that might hold a bobwhite or a woodcock, take frequent breaks where we would sit in the sun and snack on Cheeze Nips, scratch where it itched, and contemplate the world around us. I could have easily hunted longer and harder with a younger dog but like Yogi Berra once said, “It’ ain’t over till it’s over.” And for old Trapper, it just wasn’t over yet.